Don’t get stuffed by your turkey this Christmas

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UKDN Waterflow is on a crusade to eliminate rock hard Fatbergs that can cause sewers to back up and overflow, flood homes and businesses and damage the local environment.

Homeowners across the country are being urged to make some small changes this Christmas to help prevent sewers and drains becoming blocked.

Cooking fats, oils and greases poured down the plughole are responsible for thousands of sewer blockages each year – a problem which is worse at Christmas when roasting turkeys and the trimmings will see around tonnes of left over fat enter the drains.

It’s estimated that Britons pour 15 million cups of fat down the kitchen sink on Christmas Day alone, and millions of cups more throughout the year, which will transform into a hard soapy material that will block drains and sewers. ‘Fatbergs’ are becoming a common phenomenon throughout the country with Thames Water finding the biggest fatberg in the country, the size of a bus, within drains in Kingston, Surrey earlier in 2013

The fats slide easily down the sink when warm but quickly cool and harden, coating the walls of the sewers. Fatbergs bind together with all the other items, such as wipes, nappies and sanitary products, which shouldn’t be flushed in the first place.

“Dealing with a blocked sink, toilet or drain is stressful at any time of year, but the extra cost and hassle is especially unwelcome during the Christmas season, when the availability of trades to deal with the problem is often stretched” says Gary Webb from UKDN Waterflow. “It’s not good for homeowners or for businesses, which could lose thousands of pounds if they have to shut their business to deal with the issue.”

“We’re suggesting that our number 08443 262348, or the number of another known and reputable company, is always left in the phonebook or on the noticeboard so that if the worst happens, at least you can deal with it immediately”

However, prevention is better than cure and for homeowners it couldn’t be simpler “It’s not difficult to make the change “says Gary “Fat in baking trays should be left to cool before scraping it into a bag and putting in the bin. Using a kitchen towel to wipe of excess fat on crockery, pans and tins before loading the dishwasher or doing the washing up will also remove greases.

Restaurant and business owners should build in a regular maintenance programme to ensure that drains are free flowing. Whilst UKDN Waterflow can help with CCTV drainage surveys, regular maintenance programmes or if drains get clogged, much can be done to prevent a build up just by using a common sense approach.

It’s calculated that the cost of removing fat, oil and grease from sewer pipes adds up to £50m a year to household bills alone, with the cost to businesses significantly more in terms of lost trade and reputation.

So let’s all have a restful Christmas and New Year Season, and kick fatbergs into touch in 2014.

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